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Mar. 15—It was the swan song for one of the most decorated girls basketball players to have played in New Mexico this century.
But who could have imagined that it would be the OTHER Benally sister who would pave the way for the Sandia Matadors to capture a second consecutive Class 5A state championship?
Sydney's younger sister, Kaiyah, a freshman, played the game of her life Saturday afternoon at the Pit, coming off the bench to score 19 points, and she was the spark plug that led the second-seeded Matadors (30-1) to a 47-38 victory over No. 1 Hobbs (29-2) in the state final.
"Last year, I wasn't sure exactly what we had. I was almost relieved when we won," Sandia coach Lee Kettig said. "This, they just continue to amaze me. I'm very thankful and so proud of the girls."
The highly recruited Sydney Benally closed out her brilliant prep career with a rare single-digit scoring total. She finished with eight points.
Kaiyah, conversely, was pure magic with most everything she touched. She was 6-for-7 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the line. Three times Saturday, she savvily drove toward the basket, finished, was fouled, and completed a three-point play. Plus she frequently navigated Hobbs' defensive pressure.
"I just try to have fun out there," the soft-spoken Kaiyah said. "And I use Sydney as motivation. She always tells me, no one can guard me, so I take it to heart."
Big sis wasn't seeing anything new.
"I'm not surprised at all," Sydney Benally said. "She's not just a defensive stopper, she can score the ball and she can take care of it."
Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter was asked if he ever thought that Kaiyah would be the Benally sister causing his Eagles the most consternation Saturday.
"She did a great job," Carpenter said. "I didn't know she was gonna play that well, but she did."
Hobbs shot the ball abysmally in the first half — 6-for-27 (22.2%) to be exact. The Eagles were missing from everywhere, and Sandia led by as many as 13 points in the first half on a couple of occasions, including once after a nifty move by Kaiyah Benally on a drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play and a 25-12 lead late in the half.
"I just wanted to win. I didn't even care about scoring," Kaiyah said.
The Eagles scored the next 13 points after it was 25-12 — four to end the half and then the first nine of the third quarter as they connected on their first three shots, including a 3-pointer from Brynn Hargrove.
"They weren't gonna miss shots all game," Kettig said.
The game was 25-all midway through the third quarter as Sandia was the one going cold on a 5 1/2 -minute scoring drought. But the veteran Matadors answered back.
Audri Wright finally ended the spell with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and a 28-25 lead. Benally's third, three-point play extended the lead moments later to 31-26, and she scored the next two Sandia baskets as well.
"Am I surprised she did that?" Kettig said. "Absolutely not. That stuff you see her doing, she's not doing that for the first time."
Kettig relayed this amusing anecdote about Kaiyah, from the day the state tournament brackets came out on March 2. The team was at a local restaurant watching the announcement show. Kaiyah was nowhere to be seen.
"She's outside with two balls in the parking lot, dribbling," a smiling Kettig said. "It ain't magic. The girl works on it. She deserves everything she gets, and she went to work today."
Sandia had a 37-30 lead entering the fourth quarter, and the Matadors' defense didn't allow Hobbs to get closer than five over the final eight minutes.
"We play on-ball man defense," Kettig said. "This group, they showed me in the state tournament versus Farmington and Volcano Vista last year that they could do it, and beat really good teams doing it. ... The end result is what you see."
Wright added 12 points for Sandia. Kaiyah Benally also added eight rebounds.
Kyndle Cunningham led Hobbs with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Both of Hobbs' losses came to Sandia. The other was on opening day.
—
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But who could have imagined that it would be the OTHER Benally sister who would pave the way for the Sandia Matadors to capture a second consecutive Class 5A state championship?
Sydney's younger sister, Kaiyah, a freshman, played the game of her life Saturday afternoon at the Pit, coming off the bench to score 19 points, and she was the spark plug that led the second-seeded Matadors (30-1) to a 47-38 victory over No. 1 Hobbs (29-2) in the state final.
"Last year, I wasn't sure exactly what we had. I was almost relieved when we won," Sandia coach Lee Kettig said. "This, they just continue to amaze me. I'm very thankful and so proud of the girls."
The highly recruited Sydney Benally closed out her brilliant prep career with a rare single-digit scoring total. She finished with eight points.
Kaiyah, conversely, was pure magic with most everything she touched. She was 6-for-7 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the line. Three times Saturday, she savvily drove toward the basket, finished, was fouled, and completed a three-point play. Plus she frequently navigated Hobbs' defensive pressure.
"I just try to have fun out there," the soft-spoken Kaiyah said. "And I use Sydney as motivation. She always tells me, no one can guard me, so I take it to heart."
Big sis wasn't seeing anything new.
"I'm not surprised at all," Sydney Benally said. "She's not just a defensive stopper, she can score the ball and she can take care of it."
Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter was asked if he ever thought that Kaiyah would be the Benally sister causing his Eagles the most consternation Saturday.
"She did a great job," Carpenter said. "I didn't know she was gonna play that well, but she did."
Hobbs shot the ball abysmally in the first half — 6-for-27 (22.2%) to be exact. The Eagles were missing from everywhere, and Sandia led by as many as 13 points in the first half on a couple of occasions, including once after a nifty move by Kaiyah Benally on a drive to the basket that resulted in a three-point play and a 25-12 lead late in the half.
"I just wanted to win. I didn't even care about scoring," Kaiyah said.
The Eagles scored the next 13 points after it was 25-12 — four to end the half and then the first nine of the third quarter as they connected on their first three shots, including a 3-pointer from Brynn Hargrove.
"They weren't gonna miss shots all game," Kettig said.
The game was 25-all midway through the third quarter as Sandia was the one going cold on a 5 1/2 -minute scoring drought. But the veteran Matadors answered back.
Audri Wright finally ended the spell with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and a 28-25 lead. Benally's third, three-point play extended the lead moments later to 31-26, and she scored the next two Sandia baskets as well.
"Am I surprised she did that?" Kettig said. "Absolutely not. That stuff you see her doing, she's not doing that for the first time."
Kettig relayed this amusing anecdote about Kaiyah, from the day the state tournament brackets came out on March 2. The team was at a local restaurant watching the announcement show. Kaiyah was nowhere to be seen.
"She's outside with two balls in the parking lot, dribbling," a smiling Kettig said. "It ain't magic. The girl works on it. She deserves everything she gets, and she went to work today."
Sandia had a 37-30 lead entering the fourth quarter, and the Matadors' defense didn't allow Hobbs to get closer than five over the final eight minutes.
"We play on-ball man defense," Kettig said. "This group, they showed me in the state tournament versus Farmington and Volcano Vista last year that they could do it, and beat really good teams doing it. ... The end result is what you see."
Wright added 12 points for Sandia. Kaiyah Benally also added eight rebounds.
Kyndle Cunningham led Hobbs with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Both of Hobbs' losses came to Sandia. The other was on opening day.
—
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